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Chicken, Tomato, & Eggplant Curry

Last weekend we spent it in a town we both love very much. Boston. Oh how I miss living in a city, a city where you can walk and other people walk to work, to friends homes, and for coffee. People also bike as their form of transportation. I have gotten very used to driving everywhere that walking and carrying my bag or some groceries on the T or from the TRADER JOE’S to the house would be very much of a headache. A and I had many conversations over the weekend about quality of life… does living in a city where you can walk and you do not have a car reduce your quality of life? Does driving increase your quality of life? I mean life is all about choices so some of you might think that driving does increase your quality of life and some might say that it does not increase, while others might say it has nothing to do with driving! We did talk a lot about urban vs. suburban living.

Boston is a cool town, no doubt. Too bad the cold weather lasts so long. We had the quintessential NE weather over the weekend. Friday was HOT and beautiful! We got to walk downtown and into the North End for great Italian food. Saturday it rained and it was a dark day but we still got to play and ate great Indian food. That night we also visited one of our favorite bars, the Publik House, where they have an awesome beer selection. Sunday was WINDY and cold, so you see…. a total NE weather experience packed in one weekend.

We went to Boston for my brothers graduation from Berklee School of Music, I cannot believe he graduated already…I am sure he feels the same way! It was a great weekend with my family as well as seeing some friends and visiting restaurants and bars we loved. We even got a chance to tour the Harpoon Brewery (picture above) which is right in the city! We wanted to do Sam Adams as well but did not have enough time. Yeah, A and I are really into beer…I might convince him soon to try brewing our own to see what happens!

A few weeks ago I decided to revisit my curries book and look for a tomato based curry as I had so many tomatoes at home that were going bad. I made a delicious Tomato, Eggplant and Chicken curry.

Ingredients

2 tbsp oil

1 lb chicken breast, cut into cubes

1 large onion, coarsely chopped

2-3 tbsp Thai Red Curry Paste

1 eggplant, cut into small cubes

10 tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and coarsely chopped

1 3/4 cups of coconut milk

1 1/4 chicken or vegetable stock

2 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro, plus extra for garnish

Corn Starch to thicken the curry

Directions

Heat the oil in a large wok. Add the chicken in batches and cook for about 8-10 minutes until browned. Remove from the wok and set aside.

While the chicken is cooking, boil some water and pour it in a heat resistant bowl over the tomatoes. Let the tomatoes sit in the hot water for about 4 minutes. This will help you peel them.

Add the onion to the wok and cook for 2-3 minutes, or until just softened. Add the curry paste and stir-fry for an additional 2 minutes. Add the eggplant and three-quarters of the tomatoes. Make sure you cook the eggplant enough, until it has softened.

Add the chicken and stir together.

Add the coconut milk and stock and let simmer gently for 30-40 minutes until curry has thickened. Depending on the size of your eggplant cubes you might need to simmer more.

You can add a 1 tsp of corn starch if you want to thicken the curry.

Mix the remaining tomatoes and chopped cilantro together in a small bowl and then stir into the curry.

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5 thoughts on “Chicken, Tomato, & Eggplant Curry”

I love this post! Beautiful photos!!!! Really I thought you got them from a cookbook!!!

Never knew you loved beer so much, was stuck on the sex on the beach phase, hehe! You must begin brewing your own beer, and send a case over! On another note, I believe I have improved my quality of life since I stopped driving and take a train to work, it gives me 2 solid hours of peace and quiet (gotta love the quiet carriage)

Well I have been experimenting with my photos and I borrowed some colorful place mats from my mom! :) Thanks!

We LOVE beer. I’d rather have a beer than hard alcohol. I have also started to like single malts.
I wish I could also take the train to work. 2 hours of driving a day is too much, but I have been listening to the news and to an audio book…so I guess that helps!

I loooove tomatoes (Francine.. you must know this) and everything that has to do with them… I could live of tomatoes for the rest of my life… yuummi….
I have been living in Miami for wayy too long now and I miss being able to walk.. a simple thing such as walking becomes foreign here..